Reversing Expectations

I've been thinking about reversing expectations a lot lately and a few movies and TV shows I've seen have done a great job of it. Of course, because my brain is currently mush, I can't remember the movie that made me think this recently... (Might have been Ghost Writer) but the finale of The Vampire Diaries did a good job of using this reversal of expectations technique.

There's an old play-writing rule (attributed to Chekhov, I think) that goes something like: If there's a pistol in the first act, it better get used in the third act -- or something like that.

Because I often feel my storytelling is too pat, my new rule (that I'll really try to apply) is: if there's a pistol in the first act, make the reader thinks that it'll be used to kill someone in the third act, but then have someone use it to scratch their back. Okay, not as a backscratcher, but make it relevant in a way that completely reverses what the reader is expecting, while not making him or her angry that I've been dangling them along, foreshadowing something that didn't happen.

The trick, I think, is to make the reader think you're going to give her something comfortable and predictable, make her think she knows what's coming -- and then to do something different. Something better. Something she didn't see coming. Awesome. (Not so easy, but awesome.)

Another technique I saw in those last few episodes of Vampire Diaries (which I watched back to back because I was behind) was the magicians' trick of misdirection. Dangle the bright shiny keys over to the left so you can slam the audience (or reader) from the right.

Now, spoilers... If you haven't watched The Vampire Diaries and plan to, and if you hate spoilers... stop reading.

Okay, so I expected Catherine would turn up at the Founders Ball. Totally. And when they showed Elena in that period gown, I was very suspicious. But of course, it wasn't her. And all the build up of "Damon is in love with Elena" was slightly off putting. It made me uncomfortable. It made me think, Oh, no they wouldn't! It felt almost like really clunky foreshadowing. Or foreshadowing a clunky plot point. Or manufacturing false tension... Because while it has been clear for a while that Damon is in love with Elena, it would be SO out of character for her to cheat on Stefan.

But while I was thinking about all that, the writers did all this key gangling to distract me... With the mayor and his son, (werewolves? something else?) and Jeremy converting/committing suicide (another interesting twist) and Elena's real mother actually having some feelings -- then pow. A kiss. An AMAZING kiss. A kiss I instantly forgot was out of character for Elena, because I'd been distracted by all the misdirection and she was so into it (and I was so into it.)

And I was so busy dealing with the implications of that kiss, that POW. I did not see that final twist coming. When the first shocking thing in the last 10 seconds happened, I thought. WOW. Elena! Look at the balls on you! And then of course, it wasn't Elena at all. For the first 3/4 of the episode, I'd been thinking "when is Catherine going to show up?" But the writers did such a good job of distracting me and not doing it when I expected... that they completely surprised me. Awesome.
And the implications of all that happened in those last few moments... Of Damon thinking he's betrayed his brother when he hasn't, etc. etc. are DE-licious. And Elena and Catherine about to meet... Will be eagerly awaiting the next season of this show.

I admire The Vampire Diaries more and more. It doesn't try to be Mad Men or Friday Night Lights or any of the other shows I admire for different reasons. It knows what it is--a genre based teenager drama--but it does such a good job of being what it is. Awesome.

Oh, and I sense a cage match coming on. I saw Iron Man 2 tonight and loved it. Maybe because I went in with low expectations, but right from the ridiculously funny opening scene, I didn't stop smiling through the entire thing.